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The Flack

The Flack™ for Friday, December 13, 2024

The Flack highlights changes and trends in the news, examples of communications practices, and content we at BYRNE PR thought you might find useful.

We hope you enjoy, and we always welcome your feedback.

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Amazon Pulls Merch Celebrating Alleged UnitedHealthcare CEO Killer Luigi Mangione – You didn’t misread that. Merchandise glorifying the murder of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson had been available on Amazon and is still available on other sites. Entrepreneur has the story.

Bluesky, Smiling At Me – Bluesky, the social media app launched by Jack Dorsey in 2019, started gaining major traction after Elon Musk purchased Twitter and rebranded it X. However, since the election, Bluesky has begun adding more than a million users every day, and its 20-person team can hardly keep up. The New York Times has the details.

Can You Copyright A Vibe? – That’s a real question being posed by social media influencer Sydney Gifford. And the answer appears to be, “maybe.” The 24-year-old lifestyle influencer shared a photo with her thousands of followers, and then noticed another influencer was sharing photos that were nearly identical to hers. Is this the new frontier in intellectual property litigation? The New York Times investigates.

When Santa Brought Cigarettes – There was a time when cigarettes were marketed as the perfect Christmas gift. And the ads will warm your heart. The Wall Street Journal looks back.

Guinness: How Irish Stout Became A British Obsession – The beer industry is hurting. Nearly every category of beer is declining in popularity, and the pace of the decline is increasing. Despite this, Guinness volume is absolutely exploding. And some of its popularity comes from “splitting the G.” The Week explains.

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Feed Your Head:

8 Crucial Grammar Rules To Remember Before You Write Your Holiday Card

The $20-Trillion Tunnel That Could Link New York And London

Deep Read:

Who Are You Calling ‘You Guys’? Everyone, Actually.

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flack

noun

: one who provides publicity

flack

verb

: to act as a press agent or promoter for something

The word flack was first used as a noun meaning “publicity agent” during the late 1930s. According to one rumor, the word was coined in tribute to a well-known movie publicist of the time, Gene Flack.